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COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2003

Ghosn, Koizumi and structural reform

Carlos Ghosn and Junichiro Koizumi are two well-known names in Japan. Ghosn, the CEO of Nissan, is famous for his rescue of the company from the brink of bankruptcy. Prime Minister Koizumi's "trademark" is structural reform, which he promised in 2001 would lead to the creation of 5 million jobs within...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2003

Lee's intensity hardly dulled by age

HONG KONG -- A rare and remarkable Asian leader passed a milestone on Sept. 16. Former Singapore Prime Minister, now Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew celebrated his 80th birthday. He has been running Singapore, in substance if not in title, since his People's Action Party swept the polls in 1959.
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2003

Foreign minister post left in doubt until after LDP presidential election

Who will speak as Japan's foreign minister at the U.N. General Assembly meeting Sept. 23?
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2003

Koizumi appears set to stay on by default

With the extended 190-day Diet session having closed Monday, lawmakers' attention is shifting to the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election on Sept. 20, the new Cabinet that will immediately follow it and the expected House of Representatives poll in November.
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2002

Playing at democracy

Palestine Authority President Yasser Arafat is coming under increasing pressure to adopt democratic reforms. In an important development, the traditionally passive Palestinian Parliament appears to have taken up the call for real change. Mr. Arafat has so far responded with his old tricks: talking a...
COMMENTARY
Jun 11, 2002

Optimist has lost his bearings

The government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi continues to face greater difficulties than perhaps ever before. I previously criticized his Cabinet as beset with troubles, both at home and abroad, as a result of scandals involving lawmaker Muneo Suzuki, former Liberal Democratic Party secretary general...
JAPAN
May 4, 2002

Tide turns against Koizumi as voters give up hope: poll

More people disapprove of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet than those who approve of it for the first time since the Cabinet's inauguration last April, according to the results of a Kyodo News telephone poll.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2001

Bloc agrees to reform civil-servant pay system

The three ruling parties approved a government plan Friday to introduce a new wage system for national government officials based on competency and achievements, party officials said.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 30, 2001

Mission Possible for Chen

TAIPEI -- Since Taiwan's long-ruling Nationalist Party (KMT) lost last year's presidential election to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the island has slid into its worst recession in decades.
JAPAN
Oct 9, 2001

Koizumi voices support for military strike

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed full support Monday for U.S. and British military action against targets in Afghanistan, saying Japan will do everything it can to help.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Fukuda pays up over staff fraud scandal

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Tuesday he has returned wages he received from October to June in response to the public outcry over a Foreign Ministry fraud scandal involving the Cabinet Secretariat's secret funds.
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2001

Koizumi makes amity pledge at annual surrender day rites

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pledged that Japan will never again isolate itself from the world but will seek only amity with its neighbors, during a secular ceremony Wednesday marking the 56th anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender.
JAPAN
May 26, 2001

Koizumi, coalition to be tested in July

Although Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his Cabinet continue to enjoy record-high public approval ratings, the real test for the new administration will come in the July House of Councilors election.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2001

Contorted system spells short-term leaders

Unless one is a political analyst or blessed with an excellent memory, it is close to impossible to correctly rattle off the names of Japan's prime ministers since the late 1980s. There have simply been too many in that time.
COMMENTARY
Mar 9, 2001

The LDP just doesn't get it

Japanese politics is in a state of dysfunction. Symbolic of the problem is the fact that even though Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Cabinet survived an opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion, there are moves in the governing Liberal Democratic Party to unseat him.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2001

Ministers hold average 357 million yen

Takashi Sasagawa, a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker, tops a list ranking the personal assets of 29 newly appointed ministers and senior vice ministers.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2001

New government opens doors

The new-look streamlined government opened its doors for the first time on Saturday, shorn of almost half the powerful central government entities that built post-war corporate Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2000

Real reform is just beginning

The central government will be reorganized Jan. 6, 2001 with the number of ministries and agencies to be cut almost in half to 13 from the present 22. The shakeup is based on a program worked out with great difficulty by the Adminis trative Reform Council, an ad hoc panel created under the Hashimoto...
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2000

DPJ's Kan raps Nonaka's remarks

Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Naoto Kan on Sunday criticized his counterpart in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Hiromu Nonaka, for saying the defeat of a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori does not mean his Cabinet has the public's confidence.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2000

Mori survives ouster motion after LDP rebels get cold feet

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori survived a no-confidence motion against his Cabinet early Tuesday after his rivals in the Liberal Democratic Party -- primarily Koichi Kato and Taku Yamasaki -- reneged on their pledge to support the motion submitted by the opposition camp.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2000

Halls of power resound with ouster speculation

The corridors of power in Tokyo's Nagato-cho district on Wednesday resounded with speculation on the possible replacement of embattled Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, currently in Brunei for a two-day summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2000

Mori's support rating sinks to a paltry 18%

Popular support of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has taken another dive, this time to the paltry figure of 18 percent, a survey by Kyodo News showed Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Sep 9, 2000

Parties plan for the 2001 vote

A new political season begins in Japan when an extraordinary Diet session starts later this month.
COMMENTARY
Jul 7, 2000

Election results are disappointing

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori launched his new Cabinet Tuesday on the strength of an absolute majority won by the coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the Conservative Party in the June 25 Lower House election.
COMMENTARY
Jun 9, 2000

Mori lands in hot water again

Gaffe-prone Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori put his foot in his mouth again, plunging his Cabinet's popularity ratings to record lows just as Japan is gearing up for a June 25 general election.
JAPAN
May 20, 2000

Obuchi hospital photo raises questions for Aoki

The weekly photo magazine Friday published a closeup picture of the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi taken apparently after he suffered a massive stroke and fell into a coma on April 2.
COMMENTARY
May 19, 2000

The right leader for Japan?

Former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi died last Sunday, 42 days after suffering a stroke and falling into a coma. He was 62.
JAPAN
May 15, 2000

Obuchi's 20 months as leader

The following is a chronology of the major events that took place during former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's 20 months in office.
EDITORIALS
Apr 14, 2000

Mr. Mori fails to articulate a vision

With a new Cabinet at the helm, the Diet has completed a round of plenary debates following a policy speech by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. The first order of business for the Mori Cabinet, despite the extraordinary events preceding its inception, is to present its political vision to the nation. But...
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2000

NPSC panel eyes reforms of police system

The National Public Safety Commission, Japan's highest institution on internal security, announced Thursday it will set up a panel to review the nation's police system following a series of high-profile scandals.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’